


Mirror

by tanarill



Series: Haunted Past [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Bribery, Family, Family Drama, Gifts, Insanity, M/M, Stockholm Syndrome, Threats, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-11
Updated: 2007-09-11
Packaged: 2019-08-01 06:44:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16279655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanarill/pseuds/tanarill
Summary: Dan decided what to want. No one else liked this, particularly.





	Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in 2007, for someone I called 'Chains.' I don't usually write stuff as messed-up as this, but I will by request or when the bunnies won't leave me alone. I have to assume this was the former.

"You're insane."  
  
"Yes, I know. Make your choice, Danny."  
  
" . . . as if I have a choice," muttered Danny, looking away. Careful not to let his eyes fall on the specially-constructed chains that held him captive.  
  
"You do. You could reject my offer, and watch _helplessly_ as I raze this city and everything you love to the ground, _or_ you can give yourself to me and let me take your place as the protector and hero."  
  
"Like I said," replied Danny. "All right, Dan. Me."  
  
"Excellent choice."  
  
***  
  
Things changed.  
  
The people of Amity Park got over the fact with relatively little trouble, especially when it became apparent that not only was Dan stronger, he was tougher too. Ghosts sometimes came back for a round two, but never for a round three.  
  
The Fentons did not give up looking for their son, believing that if they could just _talk_ to him he'd understand that they still loved him.  
  
Danny learned to wake up at night next to his worst nightmare and not Wail.  
  
***  
  
There were other things, too, like the way that Vlad's personal taste seemed to have won out over Danny's, with the result that the bed was always made and the dishes practically sparkled. Like the way that food was purchased and prepared every day, and was both flavorful and healthy.  
  
Like the way that he was, in his mad implacable way, so very gentle while Danny screamed his objections, and then cursed, and then cried silently.  
  
***  
  
Eventually, there were some surprises.  
  
The neatly gift-wrapped present turning out to be a book of photographs by the Hubble Space Telescope that appeared on his birthday.  
  
The letter from his family that appeared for Christmas, and the correspondence he was allowed to set up.  
  
The kisses showered like rain for New Years, like tears; and that gently careful awakening to what he'd been refusing to hear all along; and afterward, realizing that he felt , for the first time, safe in the circle of strong, warm arms.  
  
The love.  
  
***  
  
Being set free.  
  
***  
  
These days, Danny doesn't spend much time as a human. He ages while human, and he knows that at least some part of the initial attraction was to his looks, so he wants to keep them as long as possible. His family is a little worried about him, his sister convinced that he's got Stockholm, and maybe he does. But even so, he doesn't care.  
  
He is loved.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAARGH! PROF, I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SHIT.
> 
> In other news, today I learned (from the grad students who invented it) about a smartphone app (for the Galaxy S7) that allows doctors to determine what bacteria is causing your sepsis from a small urine sample in about a two hours for $2 of reagents. This is an improvement over the twenty-four hours and $1100 of the current gold-standard methods, used in hospitals with very expensive machines. It's about 10,000 times as sensitive as the current method. So that's good.


End file.
